Joel Sorensen News

San Francisco Opera will present Giacomo Puccini's Turandot at the War Memorial Opera House in six performances from November 18 through December 9. After opening the Company's 2017 Fall Season in September, the work returns in the colorful production by British-born artist David Hockney and with a cast headed by internationally renowned Swedish soprano Nina Stemme. Tenor Brian Jagde reprises the role of Calaf, soprano Leah Crocetto sings Li and bass Soloman Howard makes his Company and role debuts as Timur. In his first San Francisco Opera appearance, American conductor Christopher Franklin leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Chorus and dancers.

San Francisco Opera will present Giacomo Puccini's Turandot at the War Memorial Opera House in six performances from November 18 through December 9. After opening the Company's 2017 Fall Season in September, the work returns in the colorful production by British-born artist David Hockney and with a cast headed by internationally renowned Swedish soprano Nina Stemme. Tenor Brian Jagde reprises the role of Calaf, soprano Leah Crocetto sings Li and bass Soloman Howard makes his Company and role debuts as Timur. In his first San Francisco Opera appearance, American conductor Christopher Franklin leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Chorus and dancers.

San Francisco Opera inaugurates its 95th season on Friday, September 8, with Puccini's Turandot, staged in the iconic production by English artist David Hockney and conducted by Company Music Director Nicola Luisotti, and two opening night galas. Saturday, September 9 features the opening of a new production of Richard Strauss' Elektra. The festivities continue on Sunday, September 10, with San Francisco Chronicle Presents Opera in the Park, an annual Bay Area tradition celebrating the opening of the opera season with a free concert in Golden Gate Park.

San Francisco Opera announced today a casting update for its season-opening production of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, running from September 8 through 30 at the War Memorial Opera House. American soprano Toni Marie Palmertree will sing Liu, replacing Maria Agresta who has withdrawn due to illness. Originally scheduled to portray Puccini's tragic heroine on September 24 and 30, Palmertree will now perform in all six September performances.

Single (non-subscription) tickets for San Francisco Opera's 2017 Fall Season at the War Memorial Opera House go on sale Monday, June 26, 2017, at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased online at sfopera.com; in-person at the San Francisco Opera Box Office, located at 301 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco and open Mondays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; and by phone at (415) 864-3330 during Box Office hours. Full and Half Series subscription packages are also available. Tickets for the three cycles of Wagner's Ring during the summer of 2018 are available as complete, four-opera cycles only.

The Canadian Opera Company closes its 2016/2017 season with Puccini's beloved Tosca. A tense drama of passion and betrayal, Tosca returns in a COC production performed with two of today's great divas in the title role: internationally renowned Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka and critically acclaimed American soprano Keri Alkema.

The Canadian Opera Company closes its 2016/2017 season with Puccini's beloved Tosca. A tense drama of passion and betrayal, Tosca returns in a COC production performed with two of today's great divas in the title role: internationally renowned Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka and critically acclaimed American soprano Keri Alkema.

Any audience member would have left completely satiated after the delectable antipasto-to-pasticceria buffet

The partnership between San Francisco Opera and the Bay Area's Classical KDFC continues with monthly broadcasts of performances captured during the Fall 2016 Season, including the world premiere of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's Dream of the Red Chamber, and a historic broadcast from the Company's archives. All performances were recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House and feature the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ian Robertson, Chorus Director).

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock and Music Director Nicola Luisotti today announced plans for the 2017-18 repertory season. The Company's 95th season will open Friday, September 8 with a gala performance of Giacomo Puccini'sTurandot led by Maestro Luisotti and an international cast starring Martina Serafin, Maria Agresta and Brian Jagde.

San Francisco Opera presents Leoš Jana?ek's V?c Makropulos (The Makropulos Case), a suspenseful lyric drama about the quest for eternal youth, in five performances at the War Memorial Opera House from October 14-29. Director Olivier Tambosi returns to oversee his imaginative staging, a co-production with Finnish National Opera, which premiered at San Francisco Opera in 2010 to considerable praise.

San Francisco Opera presents Leoš Jana?ek's V?c Makropulos (The Makropulos Case), a suspenseful lyric drama about the quest for eternal youth, in five performances at the War Memorial Opera House from October 14-29. Director Olivier Tambosi returns to oversee his imaginative staging, a co-production with Finnish National Opera, which premiered at San Francisco Opera in 2010 to considerable praise.

San Francisco Opera presents Leoš Jana?ek's V?c Makropulos (The Makropulos Case), a suspenseful lyric drama about the quest for eternal youth, in five performances at the War Memorial Opera House from October 14-29. Director Olivier Tambosi returns to oversee his imaginative staging, a co-production with Finnish National Opera, which premiered at San Francisco Opera in 2010 to considerable praise.

San Francisco Opera's 2016-17 Season opens Friday, September 9 with a gala performance of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier in a new production by Sir David McVicar. Company Music Director Nicola Luisotti leads a stellar cast, including three international stars making their San Francisco Opera debuts in the demanding lead roles: South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee in the title role, Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena di Coigny and Georgian baritone George Gagnidze as Carlo Gerard. The opening night festivities are distinguished by San Francisco Opera Guild's glamorous Opera Ball 2016: La Revolution et L'Amour and BRAVO! Club's Annual Opening Night Gala. The opening of the Company's 94th season also marks the beginning of Matthew Shilvock's inaugural season as General Director. Shilvock is the seventh General Director in the Company's history.

SAN FRANCISCO (July 22, 2016)—San Francisco Opera's 2016–17 Season opens Today, September 9 with a gala performance of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier in a new production by Sir David McVicar. Company Music Director Nicola Luisotti leads a stellar cast, including three international stars making their San Francisco Opera debuts in the demanding lead roles: South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee in the title role, Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena di Coigny and Georgian baritone George Gagnidze as Carlo Gérard. The opening night festivities are distinguished by San Francisco Opera Guild's glamorous Opera Ball 2016: La Révolution et L'Amour and BRAVO! Club's Annual Opening Night Gala. The opening of the Company's 94th season also marks the beginning of Matthew Shilvock's inaugural season as General Director. Shilvock is the seventh General Director in the Company's history.

San Francisco Opera's 2016-17 Season opens Today, September 9 with a gala performance of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier in a new production by Sir David McVicar.

SAN FRANCISCO (July 22, 2016)—San Francisco Opera's 2016–17 Season opens Friday, September 9 with a gala performance of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier in a new production by Sir David McVicar. Company Music Director Nicola Luisotti leads a stellar cast, including three international stars making their San Francisco Opera debuts in the demanding lead roles: South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee in the title role, Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi as Maddalena di Coigny and Georgian baritone George Gagnidze as Carlo Gérard. The opening night festivities are distinguished by San Francisco Opera Guild's glamorous Opera Ball 2016: La Révolution et L'Amour and BRAVO! Club's Annual Opening Night Gala. The opening of the Company's 94th season also marks the beginning of Matthew Shilvock's inaugural season as General Director. Shilvock is the seventh General Director in the Company's history.

San Francisco Opera's 2016-17 Season opens Friday, September 9 with a gala performance of Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier in a new production by Sir David McVicar.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Music Director Nicola Luisotti today announced the Company's 2016–17 Season repertory and roster of international guest artists, conductors and creative teams scheduled to appear at the War Memorial Opera House, as well as initial programming for SF Opera Lab 2017 presentations at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera's Taube Atrium Theater. The Company's 94th Season will also mark Matthew Shilvock's inaugural year as San Francisco Opera's new general director, succeeding his mentor and internationally respected impresario, David Gockley, who will step down on July 31, 2016.

San Francisco Opera presents the U.S. premiere of The Fall of the House of Usher-an innovative double bill of Gordon Getty's Usher House and Claude Debussy's La Chute de la Maison Usher, both inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's chilling 1839 short story. Opening on December 8, the double bill provides two contrasting takes on one of the most transformed pieces of literature ever created. Director David Pountney's eerie production, designed by Niki Turner, provides an "aptly evocative setting for the Gothic horror writer's dark imaginings" (The Stage, UK) and features imaginative, otherworldly video projections filmed by video production designer David Haneke at Penrhyn Castle in North Wales. Conducted by Lawrence Foster, who led the 2014 world stage premiere at Welsh National Opera, this presentation marks the U.S. premiere of Gordon Getty's Usher House and the American professional premiere of Robert Orledge's "truly seamless" (The Guardian, UK) reconstruction of Debussy's unfinished score.